Indian Democracy - It's true colors.

The world at large and India more specifically has a lot of inherent respect for the voters, the belief in a sytem that calls itself democracy - of the people, for the people, by the people. and of course the intelligence of the voters who actually ensure that democracy thrives. The voters believe it, the politicians believe it, the media believes it and also religiously promotes the belief as well.

However all of these people believe in democracy only and during the time of elections. The day the election results are announced, everyone, stakeholders, non stakeholders, they all go back to doing what they do best - either working their asses off or wheeling and dealing in the corridors of power. The same media that swears by people's power, the same intelligentsia that, throughout the elections, talks of the importance of going out and voting and of course the very same politicians who travel endlessly chalking thousands of air miles, tend to forget the very same voters who elected them through this most powerful and peaceful excercise that changes the game every so often.

In a country as vast and as 'manageable' as India, democracy in its most practical, day to day form, is only as important as the next round of elections. Voters are only intelligent enough to vote for their destiny for the next 5 years or 3 or 2 years, as the case may be. All praise heaped on the intelligence of the Indian voters seems to vanish the very day that the election results are announced. Post the elections, the media tries to project what it feels right, the intelligentsia tries to sell what it deems right and ofcourse the politicians and their financiers tend to do what they feel right. The very essence of trying to do that which would least harm the common man seems to disappear within an instant. No more does this common man, who takes the trouble of going out to vote, seem as important as he was when voting his destiny. This, of course, leads to, as we are seeing, the belief in the futility of democracy and the feeling amongst the voters that no matter what they try to do, it always ends up harming their interests. As far as the voters are concerned, all the champions of human rights, of value systems, of democracy, seem to be fighting their own causes that little impact the common man.

Is this what democracy should stand for? Where is the participatory democracy? Where is the democracy that was supposed to be for the people, of the people and by the people? How has it come to a state where politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats and even common thugs have become so blatant and so in your face? Yet the very same, intelligent voter is not able to do a thing about it?

The Chief Justice wants to recruit more judges. The PM says he will provide whatever help he can. Yet, for years and years no recruitments have taken place. Is this not a classic case of apathy at the higher achelons of power?

Rajiv Gandhi told us that only 15 paise out of every rupee that the government spends, reaches the needy. Now two decades down, his son says that the 15 paise have become 10 paise instead. Yet no one has done anything at all to turn the tide in two decades. If this is not lethargy, what is? We have basically been electing governments from all parties in these two decades and not one of them has been able to arrest this pilferage, forget about changing the course. What worth the voters' intelligence if they can't get it right for at least 2 decades since this matter was officially reported and recorded.

The elected parliamentarians meet in 2001 and agree that the Parliament must meet for atleast 110 sessions every year. They make the rule and then they don't adhere to it themselves. What prevented them from first not making the rule and then adhering to it? Then why must the commoners be held to laws that are not even made by the commoners? Is this what democracy means - unbridled power to elected officials and blatant killing of even the smallest desires of the 'intelligent' voters? No wonder, India is being destroyed in bits and pieces.

Earlier there used to be dacoits in India. Now there are terrorists and Naxals. And it gets better. These days, you dont lose your seat for corruption either so besides the Naxals and Terrorists you also have bureaucrats, officials and politicians making a lot of money on the side, with impunity. Every one knows this, it is no secret at all, otherwise why would only 10 paise out of each rupee, reach the poor?

Earlier there used to be an acceptance of the problem but now we excel in first denying it and then pointing a finger at someone else. The current flavor, since a long while in fact, is Pakistan.

How can India continue to blame Pakistan for its troubles and more without trying to do anything for itself? How cheeky we are to continue to push Pakistan, not Denmark, not the US, not Canada, but Pakistan, to bring people to justice in their country. Come on, they made the murdered of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the next President of the country and we expect them to do justice to people who do charity work in their country. And that too for India, which on its own has more than 3 crore cases pending in its courts. PUHLEEZZZZZ How hypocritical have we become? Can it get even worse?

Could anyone have ever imagined that a person as sane as our PM would have someone who was known to be very close to the father of a prominent buinessman, sitting in a position of authority to aid the very same company? Is this not a classic case of favoritism? Surprisingly no one, not the media, not the opposition, no one is talking about the simple fact that this minister should go from that ministry at least until this matter is resolved.

Newspapers are full of stories on corruption, blatant misuse of power, apathy, nepotism, and so on. This will increasingly marginalize the marginalized. This will bleed India much more than anything else can. But India is so busy with its own complications that it could hardly be bothered. Indian bureaucracy, Indian politicians, Indian media and even the 'intelligent' voters, every one is busy with life. We are in fact so busy that we have failed not only our forefathers but also our children so badly that the consequences will come to be known in the years and decades ahead.

The essence of democracy is that the majority view should prevail. This ostensibly means that the minority view may not prevail, even if it be deemed right. It is not for me to discuss here whether this is the right way or wrong. It is worth noting that democracy and more so the first past the post system basically means that whichever largest single block of vested interests can mould or dictate a particular set of policies shall prevail. The composition of this largest block is always open to change and its a highly dynamic process. That is the reason why things that are deemed right at one point may not be seen to be all that right at a subsequent point. It is this essential nature of democracy that ensures the hopes of millions of people at all points of time because they all feel that some day, they too would be heard and that they too would be able to form blocks of like minded people large enough for them to be heard nationwide. And powerful enough to be able to change or form policies that benefit their block. This is the back bone of a successful democracy. It is this constant churn, this constant feel for that big idea that the larges set of people want, which keeps turning the wheels of all the big and small political parties. They owe their existence not necessarily to themselves but to their ability to channelise the urges and desires of large sections of the voters.
If the voters are deemed intelligent enough to vote the right people to power, then they ought to be deemed intelligent enough to decide on the more important aspects of governance. Governance is too important a subject to be left to the government alone. It needs to involve the opposition and sure as hell, needs to involve the people that voted the government in.

What kind of democracy is this when the two largest parties don't hold proper elections through secret ballot for their party president positions? Why, for instance, should the BJP, which used to be a party with a difference, continue to have such inglorious discussions in public about its party president position? Wouldnt it make perfect sense to have a nationwide election for the post of the party president and in fact for all the office bearers. Wouldnt this be the best foot forward for this party? But no, they continue to argue amongst themselves and continue to behave as kindergarten kids with a stronger belief in negotiations, discussions and power deals rather than a belief in the system of democracy or a belief in their own party workers. You dont become an Obama through meetings and conference rooms, much as you would like to Mr. Advani. You become one through being in touch with the masses, being in touch with your own workers. Alas, when the two largest parties dont believe in proper elections, we can well imagine the degree of belief they would truly have in the power of people.

The sad truth is that democracy is doomed in India and it will take away with it, the India as we know it today unless the citizens of India and the media endeavor to do something about it.

To begin with, two small steps should be taken. One, to ensure that all important aspects of governance are implemented and approved through proper, full scale referendum in India. What would be important enough would need to be decided through a referendum of course that lists out a long set of issues and each voter has to tick only the top three or five.
And two, the Election Commission must be prevailed upon to insist that there must be secret ballot elections, conducted by the Election Commission, for the position of party president and key positions of each party that wants to run for elections at the Centre and State level. It is my belief that this would go a long way in smoothening out our systems and processes. However, these would only be small baby steps towards ensuring that over a period of time better people get to reach the top.